Next week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee will focus on the Federal Reserve’s exit from its pandemic-era asset purchase program that has sent its balance sheet above $8.5 trillion. We expect that the Fed will announce plans to reduce its monthly monetary accommodation of $140 billion ... READ MORE >
pandemic
Chart of the day: Pending home sales dipped in September
The pending home sales index fell by 2.3% to 116.7 in September after a strong gain of 8% in August, a sign of a modest pullback in home buying as some purchases are delayed until next year, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. But the market remains strong, and ... READ MORE >
GDP grows 2% as delta variant, supply chains and inflation take their toll
The delta variant, disruptions to global supply chains and inflation all took a powerful toll on U.S. gross domestic product in the third quarter as the pace of growth slowed to 2% from 6.7% in the prior quarter. On a year-ago basis, GDP increased by 4.9%, while on a nominal basis, GDP expanded at ... READ MORE >
Jobless claims hit pandemic low as labor market recovers
New filings for jobless claims dropped to another pandemic low last week as jobs remain plentiful while employers continue to compete for employees. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 281,000 for the week ending Oct. 23, according to government data released Thursday. The same figure ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of May 3
Public health experts are raising new concerns that achieving herd immunity in the United States looks increasingly unlikely. Although this doesn’t reduce the urgent need to get as many people vaccinated as possible, it does mean that we may need to begin planning for how we will live with COVID-19 as an ... READ MORE >
3 things to know this week in energy: Texas’ grid, oil prices and Canadian crude-by-rail exports
All eyes remain on Texas and the state’s energy grid operator in the aftermath of a devastating winter storm, oil prices responded positively to the U.S. House passing a new COVID-19 relief bill, and Canadian crude-by-rail exports are rebounding after a rough 2020. Biweekly, we round up news and ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Official unemployment number doesn’t tell full pandemic story
Friday’s headline January U3 (official) unemployment rate of 6.3% almost certainly undercounts the number of out-of-work people in the United States, not by design, but by the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic. Our estimate implies a real unemployment rate of 7.5%, which we acknowledge could be ... READ MORE >